How to Develop a Restaurant Brand

Updated September 18th 2013

One of the most crucial steps to success for any restaurant is developing a unique and effective brand. Your brand is basically the image of your restaurant that encompasses your marketing materials, logo, trade mark and more.

Developing a unique brand and effectively communicating it to your customers helps to build up business.  Your brand is basically what customers associate with your restaurant. Whenever they see or hear your brand, they react by recalling features about your restaurant like the menu items, design, special events, etc.. Mostly, branding happens naturally. Your customers are able to associate your restaurant with certain things or features; for instance the atmosphere or the food. This is why is it is important to incorporate branding into your marketing philosophy.

A properly developed brand is easily recognizable by all types of customers. This is because it elicits a given emotional response on; the type of food and service to expect, the overall pricing of your menu items, and the overall atmosphere of your establishment. Most successful restaurants are known to use their brand to effectively market themselves. As such you need to put more consideration into developing a unique brand that you can be identified with.

If you don’t develop your brand, your customers may choose to assign a brand to your establishment that can at times have negative effects on your business.  A number of establishments have succeeded without branding, but such an approach is not advisable. Branding is a sure and effective way of marketing your restaurant without necessarily spending a lot of money.

When developing your brand you first need to consider what makes your restaurant unique or different from other restaurants. You need to find the main purpose of your brand by determining the following;

1. What your restaurant represents and the target market – Determine the type of restaurant you are and your customer base
2. What type of food you serve and what you are famous for serving – You have to determine the cuisine you specialize in as well as what customers associate your brand with.
3. What other special benefits you offer to customers – Determine if your restaurant offers other important benefits; for instance is it the cheapest around or the most family- friendly?
4. The emotional experience you offer to customers – How do customers feel whenever they visit your establishment? And how can you improve their experiences?
5. The awards and accolades you have received – Record positive customer feedbacks and any rewards you have been offered. Generally you need to determine the message that your clients spread out there.

 

Once you have determined what your restaurant represents and what customers say about your food and services, you can then develop a very effective brand that will help your marketing strategy.

Focus on the appearance of your restaurants front. You need to ensure that it is unique and send the right image to potential clients. Ensure that your signs don’t look cheap as it may send the wrong message about your food and services. All your signage should feature the appropriate brand statement that tells consumers what to expect from your establishment. Appropriate slogans should not exceed seven words but should match your restaurants personality. You need to focus on attracting your target market by using large and brightly coloured lettering on your signage.

You should include your logo and slogan on all your menus and other marketing materials. Any other information about your establishment that customers take with them should also feature your branding on them. These include the paper menus, business cards, and brochures.

Always remember that your brand is your reputation. It represents what your customers expect from your restaurant. To develop a unique brand you need to build your reputation by delivering on all promises and meeting the expectations of all your customers.  Use your restaurants brand to market and advertise your establishment.

Written by Daniel Grossmann